A known inkjet recording apparatus includes an ink head which discharges ink for recording an image to a recording medium, a head cap which seals a discharge surface of the ink head at a maintenance operation, and a wiper blade which wipes off ink attached on a bottom part of the head cap at the maintenance operation. In the inkjet recording apparatus, a wiper unit accommodating part is arranged at one end side of the head cap, a retreat recess having a scraping wall is arranged at the other end side of the head cap, and the scraping wall is provided with an ink absorbing member. At the maintenance operation, the wiper blade accommodated in the wiper unit accommodating part is moved from one end of the head cap toward the other end, and the ink attached on the bottom part of the head cap is wiped off by the wiper blade. When the operation of wiping off the ink by the wiper blade ends, the wiper blade is cleaned with the ink absorbing member while the wiper blade overrides the scraping wall. Then, the wiper blade is stopped in the retreat recess. When a second wiping operation is performed after the first wiping operation ends, the wiper blade is returned to the one end side of the head cap.